Day LaMode
Day LaMode is a character in Magical Girl Policy. She is a monster created by Platicore, designed to drain Investiture from people as well as battle the Spirit Guard. Initially disguised as a mannequin, she and her army reveal themselves when she is unable to drain Robert Dreese. Physical appearance While disguised, Day LaMode has no set appearance, as she may occupy any mannequin within Rale Valley Mall. Once she reveals herself, the mannequin's appearance shifts. She has grayish-pink plastic skin, false black hair, and a face with limited expression, requiring her to move her entire jaw in order to speak. She wears a turtlenecked black leotard and thigh-high heeled boots. She speaks in an exaggerated French accent and tends to use her name in place of first person pronouns. Day LaMode's mannequin drones are similar in appearance to their leader, but their range of expression is even more limited. They are not shown to be capable of speech, but they do make other sounds such as laughter. Personality Day LaMode is very proud, believing herself to be invincible within in her domain. She is led to believe that she is Platicore's first and only creation, seemingly intended to boost her morale. She becomes furious when Rob makes fun of her for this belief and calls her Platicore's nineteenth failure. This, along with Rob resisting LaMode's attempt to drain his Investiture and his subsequent glowing, causes her to prioritize his capture while her army handles the Spirit Guard. LaMode's bravado becomes an act when she is put at Spirit Guard Serenity's mercy. Abilities Day LaMode is capable of draining Investiture from people near her, preferring to drain those who pass by the storefront she is currently in. Her power is directly proportional to the amount of Investiture she has drained. Even compared to the Spirit Guard and other monsters, LaMode possesses incredible agility. She is capable of precise acrobatic maneuvers and can easily outspeed all but Spirit Guard Serenity. She fights using barehanded martial arts. LaMode can split her power into other mannequins nearby, which become a pack of drones for her. The drones operate independently as a single unit that shares vision, but they may only be assigned to a single task at a time, which is set either by the pack's instinct or LaMode's mental instruction. LaMode uses her army to split up the Spirit Guard so she can battle one-on-one. Special move *'Follow ze Trend:' Upon saying the phrase, LaMode transfers her consciousness to another mannequin elsewhere in the mall. The mannequin she had been using returns to normal. LaMode retains damage between bodies, apparent by scar-like marks where her wounds were. LaMode uses this to warp around the mall to scout for targets, or to escape a fatal blow from an opponent. Biography Part 1 After Polygal failed to yield any Investiture, Platicore finds his supply running low. He designs his next monster, Day LaMode, with the ability to project herself to different bodies so her domain may be larger. LaMode is planted in a store at Rale Valley Mall as a regular mannequin, but her projection allows her to shift control to different mannequins around the mall, allowing her to move about to drain Investiture from people all over the area. Robert, Cory, and Eli as well as the Spirit Guard go to the mall for some shopping, but Rob and the Spirit Guard periodically sense an unusual empathokinetic humming from seemingly random locations. Rob runs into Angela and Mallory and offers to help search for it, as although he hasn't changed his mind on not transforming into Spirit Guard Serenity, he is willing to use the powers he does have to help protect people. He is turned down and asked to leave the mall, as Mallory fears Cory and Eli might risk their lives for Rob again if there's another monster attack. As Robert, Cory, and Eli are about to exit the mall, Rob finds the source of the humming: a mannequin in a women's boutique draining Investiture from a group of high school girls. The mannequin fails to do the same to Rob, which causes him to glow for a moment and catch its attention. The trio's attempt to reach the exit is foiled by Day LaMode jumping in front of them, who along with her mannequin army give chase in hopes of capturing Robert for Platicore's study. The three stand their ground at a Current Subject storefront, with Rob stalling for the Spirit Guard's arrival by letting his Ardent Resonance glow as a signal to the heroes while taunting LaMode for believing she's Platicore's only monster. Spirit Guard Tenacity cuts through several mannequins and forces LaMode to transfer to another body, while Valor carries the three friends to the second floor and orders them to the mannequin-free food court. The drones throw the Spirit Guard into disarray, with Felicity and Charity ineffective in close quarters while Valor and Tenacity are split up from them. Day LaMode transfers around the mall to find Robert again, but is attacked by the lone Tenacity. LaMode turns her attention away from Robert and uses her superior speed and body transfer to escape punishment and beat Tenacity to near death. Eli and Cory break into tears as they can do nothing but watch Tenacity's death approach, which has Robert decide he's the only one who can save her life. He retrieves his Spirit Stick from a Kickers store and has his friends flee so he can transform into Spirit Guard Serenity. As Tenacity's last-ditch surprise attack is thwarted, LaMode is about to land a fatal blow before Serenity attacks with a flying kick. LaMode demands to know who this fifth Spirit Guard is, so Serenity gives a hint by continuing Robert's taunts of calling her failure Number Nineteen. The fight briefly pauses when Serenity senses a guilty conscience from something invisible and confusedly looks in its direction, with LaMode doing likewise. Serenity easily keeps up with LaMode's speed, but finds she'll need a surprise attack to land a killing blow. She uses Placid Mist to turn invisible and unnerve the monster, tricking her into charging at the wounded Tenacity. She then uncloaks, stabs LaMode in the jaw to disable her body transfer, dismembers her, and blows up her head with Geyser of Tranquility. Part 2 Trace, who had fled when looked at by Serenity during the fight, returns to the mall to retrieve Day LaMode's empathic capacitor. LaMode had drained a great deal of Investiture, enough to both recharge Trace's stealth band and fuel Platicore's next monster. Trace is surprised to see the remains of LaMode, as the Spirit Guard's special attacks typically don't leave a corpse. She surmises from the carnage that Serenity was either quick or stealthy enough to stab LaMode in the face before using a boiling water move, deciding to tell Platicore later in case it affects his next monster's design. Trivia *In Chapter 13's author commentary, Taralynn Andrews says she based the behavior of Day LaMode's mannequin army on ant colonies, where the workers' coordination stems from their pheromones and clicks and not from a queen's orders. *In Chapter 14's author commentary, Andrews says the idea of LaMode's army of mannequin drones stems from the concept of people losing their individuality by mindlessly chasing fashion trends. Category:Platicore's forces